Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) yesterday bowed in apology in the Legislative Yuan for using a pejorative term about Aborigines on Wednesday, after an online apology and a statement failed to appease Aboriginal lawmakers and civic groups.
A proposal by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus to turn Chiu over to the legislature’s Discipline Committee was voted down by the DPP caucus yesterday, after which KMT lawmakers demanded an apology from Chiu.
Chiu walked to the center of the legislative chamber and bowed, saying “sorry” first to KMT lawmakers and then toward the audience mezzanine where reporters are seated.
Photo: Liao Chen-Huei, Taipei Times
KMT legislators Sufin Siluko (廖國棟), an Amis Aborigine, and Yosi Takun (孔文吉), a Sediq, and other Aboriginal lawmakers on Thursday criticized Chiu, saying her apologies were “insincere and unacceptable.”
During a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee on Wednesday, the KMT caucus asked to have Council of Agriculture officials report on the government’s plan to lift a ban on Japanese food imports from prefectures surrounding the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant meltdown, while DPP lawmakers said that a budget bill for the council should be given priority, leading to an argument between the two sides.
According to Sufin, Chiu said told KMT lawmakers: “There is no use talking to you huan-a [番仔, ‘uncivilized person’].”
Chiu later said that the term meant “unreasonable person” in Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese), but following an outcry from Aboriginal lawmakers, she released a statement saying she did not intend to provoke Aborigines and regretted causing offense.
“A politician should be circumspect in speech and action, and I sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding that might have resulted from my statements,” she wrote on Thursday in a Facebook post.
However, Sufin on Thursday said that “every single one of Taiwan’s 23 million citizens knows huan-a is a derogatory term for Aborigines.”
Chiu, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and the DPP caucus should formally apologize, he said.
Sufin said he had initiated Discipline Committee proceedings against Chiu and would file an additional motion to condemn her remark at the legislature’s general assembly.
“Chiu’s apology is insincere and unacceptable. President Tsai must make another apology to Aborigines and the DPP caucus should fix this,” he said.
KMT Legislator Sra Kacaw (鄭天財), an Amis, said Chiu’s remark could have been made in the heat of the moment, but her ensuing apologies were “attempts to cover up anti-Aborigine discrimination.”
KMT Legislator Chien Tung-ming (簡東明), who also goes by his Paiwan name, Uliw Qaljupayare, said many Aboriginal residents of his constituency in Pingtung County had expressed their anger to him during face-to-face meetings on Wednesday, and that they wanted him to publicly reiterate their condemnation.
“I cannot believe hearing this from my friend Chiu,” said Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅), an Atayal.
Chin said she believes Chiu “made the comment without ill-intent and in the heat of the moment,” but apologing afterward “should not have been so difficult.”
In related news, KMT Taipei and New Taipei City councilors on Thursday held a news conference at the KMT headquarters in Taipei, calling for Aborigines to “break the silence and stand in solidarity.”
New Taipei City Councilor Yang Chun-mei (楊春妹) also panned Minister of Council of Indigenous Peoples Icyang Parod.
“As the highest official in charge of Aboriginal affairs, he abandoned his responsibility to defend Aborigines from Chiu’s language,” Yang said, adding that Tsai needs to apologize to Aborigines or they would “take to the streets” in protest.
Additional reporting by CNA
SPEEDING ELETRIC VEHICLES: Available without license requirements, the low-cost vehicles, especially if illicitly modified, can often reach a dangerous speed The government should crack down on illegal electric bicycles and scooters, the non-profit Consumers’ Foundation said on Friday, citing research on the potentially dangerous speed of the vehicles. Electric bicycles and lightweight electric scooters have gained popularity as they do not require registration and riders do not need licenses, the foundation said, adding that as many as 40 percent of them can reach speeds exceeding the legal limit of 25kph for non-licensed two-wheelers. Some consumers also purchased legal electric vehicles and modified them to reach higher speeds, it said. “If the government does not step up efforts to confiscate these
‘RELIABLE PARTNER’: US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar praised the ‘Taiwan model,’ saying that the nation brought its spirit to its COVID-19 response The first memorandum of understanding (MOU) on health cooperation between the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the US Department of Health and Human Services was yesterday signed at the Centers for Disease Control in Taipei. The memorandum was signed between the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US, by AIT Director Brent Christensen and Taiwan Council for US Affairs Chairperson Jen-ni Yang (楊珍妮). US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) witnessed the signing of the memorandum, designed to enhance the nations’
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday tweeted a welcome to Somaliland’s first representative to Taiwan, Mohamed Omar Hagi Mohamoud, who arrived on Friday. Mohamoud had “braved Chinese pressure” to take up his new post, Wu wrote. “The fact ‘sovereignty & friendship aren’t for sale’ deserves international recognition,” referring to a Somaliland media report earlier this month that Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi had rejected an offer by the Chinese government in exchange for ending its rapprochement with Taiwan. Wu also thanked the US National Security Council (NSC) for praising Taiwan-Somaliland ties. A council tweet on July 10 praised Taiwan
The Taipei City Government yesterday said that construction on the long-suspended Taipei Dome can resume immediately, after it approved a request by the project’s main contractor, Farglory Group. In a statement, the Taipei Construction Management Office said that after it on July 16 issued a new building permit, Farglory submitted revised design plans and an application to resume construction, which the office approved on Friday. Construction had been suspended on the dome, near the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Xinyi District (信義), for more than five years due to disagreements between the city and the company over the safety of some of
RSS